152 



ting a persuasive Communist propaganda offensive that represented 

 the United States as motivated by "atomic imperialism'" and aimed 

 at monopolizing the benefits of nuclear technology through its policy 

 of atomic secrecy. James J. Wadsworth, later to become U.S. am- 

 bassador to the conference that was to create the international agency, 

 wrote that the United States had gained a diplomatic advantage over 

 the Soviet Union by making the first overture to the world commu- 

 nity for the peaceful use of nuclear energy. 36 



Implications for Nuclear Power in Europe 



From the point of view of Western Europe, the main implications 

 of the Atoms for Peace message were threefold : 



(1) In principle it would be possible to obtain from the United 

 States enriched uranium and scarce materials such as heavy water, 

 for development of nuclear power, subject to agreements for ex- 

 change of technical information and control of the materials 

 supplied ; 



(2) The United Nations would be entrusted with supply and 

 safeguards functions via the proposed international agency : 



(3) A great amount of scientific and technical information and 

 data on nuclear energy would be released to the world. 



This latter was significant for until then much of the technology 

 for nuclear power was kept secret in the United States. 



The first tangible result of the message was an international confer- 

 ence on atomic energy sponsored by the United Nations in Geneva in 

 1955. In retrospect, the conference was a unique event. None of the 

 three subsequent U.N. conferences released at one time so much scien- 

 tific and technical information in such an exhilarating atmosphere. But 

 the United States, which was the principal participant in the confer- 

 ence, tended to oversell atomic energy, which many, if not all, countries 

 looked to as a symbol of modernity and greatness. The year 1955 

 marked the launching of all-out nuclear programs in many countries, 

 with attendant overestimating of promised benefits and underestimat- 

 ing of the technical and economic problems of nuclear power. 37 



Legislation for Atoms for Peace 



A complete redrafting of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 legislation 

 quickly followed President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace proposals 

 to clear the way for private development of civil nuclear power in the 

 United State- and to open opportunities for nuclear cooperation with 

 other nations and with international bodies. The modifications em- 

 bodied in the 1954 legislation, 88 while permitting expanded interna- 

 tional cooperation, also included provisions to insure that this coopera- 

 t ion would promote, not compromise, national security. 



m James .1 Wadsworth. "Atoms for Peace " hi J, Stoessinger and A. Westin, eds., Power 

 and Order (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World. Inc., 1964), p. 35. 



This aspeel of "over ell" is emphasized by Jules Queron, former general director of 

 research ; i ml development for Euratom, In liis essay. "Atomic Energy In Continental 

 Western Europe," in Richard L. Lewis and Jane Wilson, eds.. Mamooonin Pins Twenty- 

 Yeara (New York : The Viking Press, t.iti I p. 146 

 ••Public Law 83 703, 68 Stat. 919, approved August 30, 1!»r>4. The vote In the House was 

 231 for. 154 against, 'i present, and 4.". not voting; in the Senate it was r.7 for, 28 against, 

 nnd 11 not vrot inc. 



